Prosecutors' Search of 'Mapo Shelter' Deemed "Inhumane Excessive Investigation" by Justice Network

Prosecutors are moving seized items to a vehicle after completing a search of the Justice Memory Solidarity shelter in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 21st. Photo by Jeong Dong-hoon

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeondae), which is under suspicion of accounting fraud, has described the prosecution's two consecutive days of search and seizure investigations as "inhumane excessive investigations."

On the afternoon of the 21st, Jeonguiyeondae issued a statement saying, "The prosecution's act of executing a warrant at the shelter (Peace Our Home) where Grandmother Gil Won-ok resides during the morning hours when lawyers and activists could not respond is a serious insult to the Japanese military comfort women movement and the victims, as well as a human rights violation."

The Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Ji-seok) conducted a search and seizure from 5 p.m. the previous day until 5:30 a.m. on the day at Jeonguiyeondae's office in Mapo-gu and at the War and Women's Human Rights Museum, which is the address of the Jeongdaehyeop office. Subsequently, from 2:30 p.m. on the same day, they carried out a search and seizure at Peace Our Home for about an hour and a half.

Peace Our Home is a space established in 2012 by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop), the predecessor of Jeonguiyeondae, which was leased free of charge from Myeongseong Church. Currently, comfort women victim Grandmother Gil Won-ok (92) resides at the Mapo shelter. The late Grandmother Kim Bok-dong also lived here during her lifetime.

Jeonguiyeondae stated, "The lawyers have agreed with the prosecution to voluntarily submit materials located at the Mapo shelter where Grandmother Gil Won-ok lives," adding, "This is the minimum condition to protect the grandmother's honor and dignity." They emphasized, "We sincerely cooperated with the prosecution's sudden search and seizure that lasted more than 12 hours from the afternoon of the 20th to early morning of the 21st, hoping for a fair investigation and swift resolution of the suspicions."

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